


Blessing Disguised as a Car Crash

by pauliestevens



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean crashed the car, Hospital, Human AU, M/M, Meddling brothers, Roommates, Slight angst first chapter?, mostly fluff I think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-21 14:18:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1553393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pauliestevens/pseuds/pauliestevens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean wakes up in a hospital, he doesn't know what happened.  He didn't expect to be injured.  He especially didn't expect to fall in love with his roommate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hospital Hatred

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I got the idea for this one from this post --> http://iflyairtardis.tumblr.com/post/84046990182/hieroglyphical-this-makes-me-want-a-fic-in 
> 
> I thought it was pretty interesting, so I tried to make something of it. I personally was pretty happy with what came out of it :) It was starting to get a bit long, so I chose to split it up into multiple chapters.
> 
>  
> 
> This was not beta read, so sorry for any rough patches. I tried to catch them, but I'm not perfect. I'd love any comments or suggestions you might have! 
> 
> Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy it!

Pain.  Cold.  Some annoying buzzing sound.  More pain.  And a weird smell...antiseptic.  Hospital.

What the hell had happened to him that forced Sam to take him to a hospital?  The injuries he got were easy to fix at home.

The pain was all over his body, which was weird.  Usually when he got hurt it was because Sam dared him to do something stupid, causing Dean to break his wrist or rib.  Multiple times with the rib.  

Except for the fact that he was in a hospital, there was one other thing that was not quite right with this situation.  The buzzing noise.  As Dean’s head cleared, he realized that the noise was actually someone talking.

“Gabe, seriously, you can’t keep sending me male prostitutes.”  The strange voice came from the other side of whatever room Dean was currently in.  From the tone, it sounded like a man.  Dean tried to open his eyes to see who this mysterious stranger was.

That proved to be easier said than done.  As soon as his eyes widened even the slightest bit, it felt like his eyes had been lit on fire.  He couldn’t keep a pain filled groan from escaping  before slipping back into unconsciousness.  

***

More pain.  More cold.  More noise.  More smell.  The only new thing was that this time Dean knew where he was.

When he attempted to open his eyes this time, it was much less agonizing.  And he didn’t pass out, which was a plus.  Now that he was able to look around without feeling like dying, Dean took in his surroundings.

He was lying on a completely white bed in a sparkling room.  All of it was either reflective stainless steel or blinding white.  Obviously a hospital room.  Both beds were on one side, with tables and instruments opposite.  A wall of windows to the right showed a view of more indescript buildings.  The only door in the room on the farthest wall to the left.  Between the door and his bed was Dean’s roommate.

Holy crap.  Guys should never be allowed to be that pretty.  The stranger’s eyes were the bluest and most piercing eyes Dean had ever seen.  They were almost Photoshop blue.  Hell, his whole face looked Photoshopped.  Especially those cheekbones.  Hot damn.  It felt like the temperature in the room had just skyrocketed to boiling.  Dean was definitely not going to survive this encounter.

He had realized he was gay about two years ago, and had come out to Sam about a year ago.  Sam was obviously cool with it. Dean was so glad Sam was his brother.  Not that he would ever share that.  He did not need Sam getting a bigger head.

Seriously.  It was pretty ridiculous how attractive the other guy in the room was.  Dean really wanted to get to know him.  Like right now.  Then possibly get to more interesting activities after he got out of this freaking hospital room.  Hopefully.  It was just about then that Dean remembered the stranger was talking on the phone.  Not that he wanted to eavesdrop.  That would be rude and invasive.

He was totally eavesdropping.

“Gabe seriously.  You’re going to get me kicked out of this hospital. And then where would we be?  Do you remember how far you had to drive to the nearest hospital last time?  Because I do.”  The guy paused, listening to the response on the other end of the phone.  “I don’t care how hot you think they are.  I appreciate you trying to hook me up with someone, but I have like five broken ribs and a fractured wrist.  Do you really think I’ll be that fun in bed?”  

More pausing.  Dean was actually getting pretty interested in this conversation.  Whoever was on the other end of the phone, the relationship between the two sounded like his and Sam’s.  Maybe he could start a conversation with that.  No wait, then the stranger will know he was eavesdropping.  

This stuff is hard.

“And for another thing, these places are spotless.  Have you ever been in one?  They’re the most sanitary places on Earth, which means I won’t get the chance to have sex in my room.  Sorry to disappoint.”  The guy sighed deeply.  “I know.  I’m looking forward to the next round.  They’d better be the best prostitutes in the state.  Whatever.  You suck ass.”  An audible click came from the other side of the room as the mysterious stranger hung up.  Now was Dean’s chance to start a conversation.

Just one problem.  Just as he was about to start talking, a nurse came in to check up.  

“So, Mr. Novak, how are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m feeling much better, thank you.  I think the medicine is helping a great deal.”  His voice is almost better than his face, if that’s even possible.  Dean would listen to him read out of the dictionary if that was what it took to make him keep talking.  

“Well, we’ll check on you again in about three hours.  You should be ready to go by the end of next week.”

“Fantastic.  Thanks so much.”  The stranger, Novak, sent her a dazzling smile.  Dean wished he was on the receiving end of that smile.

Finally, the nurse left.  Dean took a deep breath, then cleared his throat.  Novak looked over.

“Hey, you’re awake!  I thought you were in a coma a couple times there.  I’m glad you aren’t.  This room would’ve been almost as boring as it was before you got here.”  Novak was smiling cheerfully at Dean, and he was getting light headed.  “How are you feeling?”  

Dean smiled back tentatively.  It was incredible he was keeping it together this well.  Over the past ten seconds Dean had decided that his new roommate was definitely worth getting to know better.  A lot better..  First he had to be careful not to scare away his hot new friend.  Time to initiate step one to the plan:  Make Friends.  Step one should also probably include learning the guy’s name.

“Uh, I feel okay I guess.  My leg hurts pretty bad, and I have a killer headache.  Other than that I’m pretty good.  Do you know what happened to me?”

“Well, from what I gathered from what the nurses were saying outside the room, you were in a pretty nasty car crash.  You’re lucky you’re not more badly hurt and all that.”  Novak had taken on an almost mocking tone at the last part.  Obviously he disliked hospitals as much as Dean did.  Perfect.

“What are you here for?”  Dean replied casually.  He really wanted to know whether it was something to do with the prostitutes Novak had been talking about on the phone.

“Broken ribs and a fractured wrist.  My brother dared me to jump off the roof.  The ground was farther away than I originally thought.”  Novak laughed ruefully.  “I probably deserved it.  It’s crazy.  I’m 23 years old and still taking dared from my older brother.”  So Novak was only a year older than Dean.  Things seemed to be getting better and better as the conversation progressed.

“It’s not that crazy.  Me and Sammy, that’s my little brother, still do pranks with each other.  There was this one time where he glued a beer bottle to my hand.  Man, I was so pissed.  I had to go to the nearest walk-in-clinic because I couldn’t get the damn thing off.”  Dean laughed out loud at the memory.  “Guess we’re both a little crazy, aren’t we?”  

“That’s not the worst thing to be,”  Novak replied quietly.  The mood in the room suddenly dipped.  Dean waited for Novak to say something else.  After a few beats of silence, Novak spoke up again.

“I’m Castiel by the way.  Cas.”  Cas.  So Novak had a first name.  Now Dean could stop calling him by his last name, even if it was just in his head.

“Dean.  Good to meet you Cas.  So I guess you’re my roommate now.”

“Guess so.  As roommates go, you’re a lot better than some of the ones I’ve had in the past.  Cuter, too.”  Cas winked at him.  

Remember that inward panic Dean had been dealing with?  It rose by 100% at Cas’ words.  His panic also made his heart rate rise.  His heart monitor started dinging frantically, trying to warn the people in the room of what was happening to the person hooked up to the machine.  Kill me now.  Dean was now just yelling swear words in his head as loud as he could.

“Was it something I said?”  Cas teased.  He was grinning in Dean’s direction.

“That wasn’t...I mean...I just...”   He cringed internally.  Great.  Now Cas thought he was a complete freak.  Just what he needed.

“Relax.  I was just messing around.  I need something to relieve boredom in this place.  Screwing with my roommates is my usual past time.  I promise I won’t do it again.  Forgiven?”  Cas was now smiling at him hopefully, trying to gain back friendship.

Out of all the people in this hospital, Dean had to get the one that screwed with his roommates.  Typical.  

Cas was really lucky he was hot.

***

After the embarrassing encounter with the heart monitor, Dean had feigned exhaustion to avoid more conversation.  He still wasn’t over what Cas had said, and wanted time to think it over.

Had Cas been kidding when he said Dean was cute?  Was that just another one of his jokes?  Or did he actually mean it?  Even with the teasing,  Cas already felt like one of Dean’s best friends, and it had been less than a day.  It was worth all of the extra teasing.

But did Cas feel the same way?  He might have made friends with whoever had ended up in Dean’s bed.  It didn’t necessarily mean that Dean was special.

This situation was a lot more puzzling than expected.   Getting bored with going in circles with his thoughts, Dean rolled to face Cas.  

“So who were you on the phone with earlier?”

“Oh, that was my brother, Gabriel.”  Cas seemed willing to drop the embarrassing event from earlier.  Dean was completely fine with that.

“Why was he, ah…”  There was no polite way to phrase the next question.

“Why was he sending me male prostitutes?”

“Uh, yeah.”  Cas seemed to actually put some thought into the question before answering.  It was interesting.  Cas seemed to be an energetic person, but was still able to calm down and be serious when the time called for it.  Not everybody had that talent.

“I guess he’s trying to be nice.  It is his fault I’m in the hospital, after all.  I mean, I do appreciate the thought.  But I’m not really into the whole idea of prostitution, you know?  I enjoy going on dates more than touching half naked strangers.  Gabe does mean well, though, even if he doesn’t listen to a single word I say.”  Cas was smiling to himself.  He was obviously fond of his older brother.  

“If you don’t like them, why don’t you just tell Gabe to stop sending them?”  Cas cracked his knuckles as he responded, causing Dean to cringe.  That was such an awful noise.

“Whatever prostitutes he does send, they’re always the hottest in the town.  Even if I don’t get the urge to touch, looking is a hell of a lot better than staring at a wall.  Plus, I have a weakness for great abs.  Gabe found out, and acts accordingly.”  

There were two things Dean got out of this response.  First, he suddenly felt very self conscious about the slight roundness around his stomach.  It wasn’t like he had let himself go, he just hadn’t had a lot of time to get to the gym lately.  It was probably time to start going again.  If he wanted the thing with Cas to progress any farther, that is.  The second thing was that his roommate was gay.

It was absolutely fabulous that his roommate was gay.  He actually had a chance with a hot person.  That he had met all on his own, too!  This car crash may have been a blessing in disguise.

“Yeah, Sammy usually gets it when I tell him to stop doing things to me.”

“Well it’s different for you!  You’re the older brother.  The leader.  The one the parents like better, right?”  Cas was mocking him, that much was obvious.

“They like me better because I’m the more attractive child.”  Dean shot back.  Cas scoffed.  

“I am the most attractive of my siblings, and Gabe is still the favorite. Your logic is flawed,”  Cas replied triumphantly.  He didn’t seem bitter about Gabe being liked better, he was just stating facts as he knew them.  Dean accepted his defeat with grace.

“How many siblings do you have?  I know it’s you and Gabe, but are their others?”

“In total there’s four of us.  Gabe is oldest, then Samael, I’m the third one, and Hael is the little sister.  It usually turns into Hael running everything because she’s the only girl and gets special treatment.  She’s a brat.”  Cas had gradually leaned back until he was staring up at the ceiling instead of looking at Dean.

“Those are all heavenly names, right?  Are you guys avenging angels in disguise or what?”  Cas could totally pass for an angel.  He already had the voice and looks, now he just needed wings.  

“Our mom is super religious.  We all used to get teased all the time for it, but it isn’t a problem anymore.  Not for me anyways.”  Cas now turned to look Dean’s direction.  “Is your family big believers?”

“Not really.  The closest we ever got was our mom telling me and Sam that angels were watching over us.”  That memory had nearly slipped his mind until just now, when Cas had brought up religion.  His mother used to take Dean and Sam to church every Sunday with her.  Dean hadn’t known what was going on at the time, but had tried to be serious for his mom.

“She sounds like a nice lady, your mom.”  Cas actually sounded sincere when he said this, not like he was just trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, she was.  She died in a fire when we were younger.”

“I didn’t know.  I couldn’t imagine ever dealing with that,”  Cas had gained a sad tone to his voice.  Strangely, it didn’t make him sound pitying.  Dean guessed he was just trying to be comforting.  

Dean had only been a little kid when his mom died.  Even so, he still had faint memories of her, a lot more than Sam ever got.  It had been rough the first couple of years, but the pain had become manageable as time went on.  The loss would come crashing back sometimes at the most inopportune times.  Like right now.  

He turned to face the wall again as tears stung his eyes.  Dean heard Cas rustle around before settling down for the night.  He allowed a tear to slide down his face before scrubbing away the rest.  There was no use for tears anymore.  They didn’t help anyone.  He squeezed his eyes shut to block any more from coming out.  Eventually, by shutting out the rest of the room, he managed to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

***

The light of day hit Dean in the face like a semi-truck.  He groaned and buried his face into the pillow.  It couldn’t be morning already.  It felt like he had just fallen asleep.  And his whole body ached like nothing he had ever felt before.

“Dean, wake up.  Seriously.  I’ve been trying to wake you up for like twenty minutes.”

“Sammy, I’m sleeping.  Five more minutes.”  That excuse had never worked before, but he might be able to swing it, what with him being in the hospital and everything.  He deserved extra comfort.

“It’s not Sam.  It’s Cas.  Your roommate?”  The voice sounded extremely hesitant, which Sam never was when talking to his brother.  Dean jerked awake with a start.  The fact that he had a roommate had completely fled his mind.  Everything from the night before came rushing back in.  Dean glanced over at Cas, and watched as Cas looked quickly away.  Obviously there was still some tension in the room.

“Sorry man, I forgot where I was for a second there.”  This was going to be a horrible day if the awkwardness wasn’t dissipated soon.  

“So, um, do you feel better?”  Dean could feel the embarrassment that was going to be created from this conversation.  How do you make up for dumping the fact that your mom died on someone you just met?  He regretted that decision already.  He should’ve just told Cas that she was in jail or something.  That would make things so much easier.

“Better, thanks.”  So not true.  He felt like crap on a stick.  

“Good, that’s good.”  Again, the uncomfortable silence.  It dragged on, sucking all of the life out of the room, until Dean felt like he couldn’t breathe.  Something had to happen soon, or he was afraid he would suffocate in his hospital bed.  Luckily, the gods were on his side.  A nurse walked in quickly and headed towards Dean’s bed.

“Good morning Mr. Winchester!  So wonderful to see you awake!  I would’ve come to check on you earlier, but you looked so comfortable.” The smile the nurse was sending him was forming a feeling in him that was no where near comfortable.

“Well, I’m awake now.”  Dean despised having to make conversation with strangers.  Especially at places that he did not volunteer to be at.

“That you are!  I’ll just check your vitals, then you should be good for another few hours at least.”  

“Sounds fine.”  Hopefully he would have more than just a few hours to forget about this entire encounter.  She fiddled with a few of the tubes attached to his body before stepping away.

“Everything looks perfect.  If your recovery continues at this rate, you should be out by the end of the week.”  Dean ignored her and elected to stare out the window instead.  The nurse shuffled her feet a few times before offering an excuse and making her exit.

“Do you hate hospitals as much as I do?”  Dean closed his eyes.  He really wasn’t in the mood for conversation right now.  He decided to play along.  It was more interesting than the concrete wall he had been staring at.

“Yeah I do.  Have since I was little.  Not really sure why.”  Dean didn’t put any emotion into his words, and tried to make them slightly harsh.  He wanted Cas to get the hint that he didn’t want to talk anymore.

No matter how hot his roommate might be,  for some reason Dean had grown wary of him over the past day and a half.

“Does it seem to you like every smile you get in these places is forced for your benefit?  Even if you’re close to dying, it’s still the ‘you’re doing fine’ smile.  It pisses me off.  That’s the reason I hate coming here.  You can never really get a straight answer about what’s wrong with you.”  Dean turned to face him.

“Right?  Like with the nurse that was just here.  The entire time she was talking to me, she seemed almost constipated, like it was paining her to keep a smile on her face.”  Cas burst out laughing.  The mood in the room suddenly switched back to what it had been before. Dean couldn’t remember why he had been so annoyed with Cas just a couple minutes ago.  “It’s even worse when you’re a kid,”  he continued.

“It’s impossible to get any answer when you’re a kid that isn’t able to be treated by orange juice and sleep,”  Cas added.  He seemed to be getting pretty worked up about the subject matter.

Now that the two roommates were okay with each other, they were able to continue talking for the rest of the day.  They were brought meals, and checked up on a few times,  but nothing could stop their chatter.  Dean and Cas talked for almost eight hours straight about both meaningless things and the most important things.  They touched again briefly on the subject of Dean’s mom, but quickly moved on.  Other than that, no subject matter was off limits.  By the end they felt like they knew each other better than they knew themselves.


	2. When Will You Realize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a family visit!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, yay!  
> It took me forever to get my idea for this chapter into an actual story, I would only write like a paragraph a day, but then tonight I just wrote like four pages. I don't even know.
> 
> I had a lot of fun with Gabriel's character, so I hope you like how I wrote him :)
> 
> Enjoy, and thanks so much for taking the time to read this ^-^

Dean slowly slipped back into consciousness to the sound of falling rain.  The raindrops bounced off of the windowsill, making a thick tapping noise.  He slowly rotated his head to watch the sky pour out its troubles.  He had always loved storms when he was a kid.  He knew he would be safe, as long as his mom and Sam were there beside him.

The sky looked so melancholy, it almost felt like there should be slow piano music in the background.  Dean could just hear the notes being pulled out from the innards of the instrument.  It was like the piano was there with him.  Almost tinny sounding.  Wait.  There actually was piano music playing.

Dean turned his head the opposite way to see Cas lying on his back with his eyes closed.  He actually recognized the song playing as the opening chords of  “Vienna” by Billy Joel.  He used to listen to this song all the time as a kid.  Dean waited until Billy Joel began crooning on Cas’ IPod before saying his name.

“Cas,”  Cas stirred at his name, but his eyes remained closed tight.  “Cas.” His roommate blinked sleepily awake and remained staring at the ceiling.  After a few beats, he managed to look over at Dean.  

“Yes, Dean?”

“What’s with the music?”  

“I have problems sleeping sometimes.  The music helps me.”  Cas still had a relaxed and sleepily content look on his face while he answered.  The look helped calm down Dean as well, even though he hadn’t felt tense before.  He was so glad that he had the luck to get Cas as his roommate.  Just talking with him the night before had allowed Dean to become that much closer to his new friend.  It was a fantastic feeling.

“I like your taste in music,”  Dean offered.  Not many people he met enjoyed the same music he did.

“Do you really?  It’s one of my favorite songs.”  Cas’ face lit up when he responded.  Dean loved the fact that he had made Cas smile like that.

“Uh, yeah.  My uncle taught me that song on piano when I lived with him.”  For some reason, that fact had felt almost embarrassing to share.  Which was idiotic, considering that he had shared about the time when he was 19 when he had worn Rhonda Hurley’s satin panties.  Cas had laughed for about twenty minutes straight at that one.   It was completely worth it to hear him laugh.

“You should play it for me sometime,”  Cas responded after a while.

“I don’t know, I probably don’t remember how to play it anymore.”  Why was he fighting this so hard?  If he agreed, it would give him an excuse to see Cas after leaving the hospital.

“Please?  You only have to play it once,”  Cas wheedled.  He seemed dead-set on getting Dean to agree to play the song.  

“Fine.  After we get out of the hospital.  But only once, you hear me? Once.”  Cas grinned at his victory.  After a couple seconds, he switched his focus to the window.

“It’s so rainy out,”  he commented.  He had gotten an almost dreamy look in his eye.  Dean wondered what he was thinking about.

“I love the rain.  It reminds me of when I was a kid.  I used to stay up at night to watch the lightning,”  Dean reminisced.  

“I love it too.  I don’t really have a reason though.  It just makes me happy, you know?”  Cas looked back over at Dean at the last words.  Dean didn’t have an answer, so he just smiled in return.  Cas smiled back, and raised his eyebrow slightly.  Dean’s smile faded away as he full on stared in Cas’ direction.  It got more competitive as neither of them backed down from the contest.  Neither of them were willing to let the other one win.

This continued on for quite some time, long enough that they had to make rules about what was and wasn’t allowed.  After all, what else were they supposed to entertain themselves with?  There’s not much to do in a hospital at 11 in the morning.

***

The contest was still happening when Sam came to visit Dean.  When he walked in the door, Cas was fully on his side with his arm under his head.  Due to the cast on Dean’s right leg, Dean was only able to turn his head to the side.  When Sam was continuously ignored, even after clearing his throat, he tried to get Dean’s attention.

“Dean, are you going to look at me at all?”

“I’m about to win Sammy, give me a second.”  At his words Cas chose to enter the conversation.

“That’s what you think, asshat.  I’ve almost won five different times!  I’m obviously better at this than you are.”  Even though Sam couldn’t see Cas’ face, it sounded like he was smiling.  Sam attempted to introduce himself to Dean’s roommate.

“Hi, I’m Sam, Dean’s brother.”  He stepped a little closer to Cas’ bed and stuck out his hand.

“I’m a little busy.”  Cas didn’t bother with anything else besides that.  If either of the roommates had been looking at Sam, they would have seen the extremely offended look.  “How long have you guys been doing this?”

“What time is it?”  Dean responded distractedly.  He didn’t really seem to care that Sam was even in the room.

“Almost 4,”  Sam said sullenly.  “Don’t you have a clock in this room?  Just look at the time yourself.”

“Do you not understand  what a staring contest is, Sam?  Because that’s kind of against the rules.”  At Dean’s words, Cas let out a small laugh, but still didn’t break eye contact.  This was getting ridiculous.  “Oh, we’ve been doing this for about five hours.”

“Are you being serious right now?”  Sam asked incredulously.

“What else are we supposed to do?  This is a hospital room.  Not much entertainment to speak of,”  Cas said.  At least he seemed a little bit more into the conversation than Dean did.   Even so, Sam was done with putting up with their rudeness.  He had been there for almost ten minutes and hadn’t been looked at once.

“That’s it, you’re done,”  Sam shot back as he stepped in front of Dean.  Sam watched as his brother’s features morphed from a look of shock to a look of anger.

“Sammy, how could you do this to me?  I was so close to winning!  You’ve betrayed this family,”  Dean wailed.  This competition had obviously been a big deal.

That didn’t make Sam care any more about it though.

“I win!  I told you I would win!”  Cas crowed.  He looked as if he would do a cartwheel if he could.

“You did not win, it was a tie!”  Dean was getting visibly upset at the thought of losing.

“Sam is your brother.  He interfered, that means it’s your fault and my win,”  Cas had a gigantic smile on his face, while Dean had the exact opposite.

“I’m not buying you ice cream!”  Dean retorted.  Sam guessed that ice cream had been the wager for the competition.  He would’ve picked ice cream too.

“Yes you are.  Rules are rules.”

“Fine.  Once we’re out of the hospital and I can drive again.  Speaking of cars, Sam, how’s Baby?”

“I just got her back from the car repair place, actually.  That’s what I came by to tell you.  I guess you had more important things to worry about though,”  Sam responded with a pointed glance in Cas’ direction.

“Oh yeah, this is Castiel by the way.”  Cas turned to face Sam at the mention of his name.

“You can call me Cas,”  he responded with a bright smile.  It seemed to Sam like he was a perfectly friendly guy when he wasn’t distracted.  Sam tried again to shake his hand, and this time his gesture was accepted.  They shook once, twice, and then Sam let go.  There was an awkward pause where Cas glanced in Dean’s direction before breaking the silence.

“So Sam, Dean said you were at work?”  Sam nodded, still slightly miffed about being ignored.  “Where do you work?”

“Uh, I’m a lawyer at a downtown firm,”  he shared.

“Are you really?  I went to law school for a bit before changing my major.  How did you make it all the way through that entire course?” Cas asked in awe.  Sam sent him a genuine smile and jumped into a speech about how he had always wanted to be a lawyer since he was little.  Dean, now the one  ignored for the time being, used this time to examine Cas more closely.  The way he used his hands to express feeling.  The way his nose tilted down when he laughed or smiled.  And the laugh lines that were constantly at the corners of his eyes.  He was so engrossed in his observations that he almost didn’t notice Sam shooting him looks.

When he finally did catch Sam’s eye, all that Sam did was raise an eyebrow.  Even so, Dean could still understand what he was trying to say.  He was asking whether there was something more going on between the two roommates.  Dean simply shrugged in return.  He didn’t want to say no, because he did feel something, but saying yes would be making assumptions.  That would be embarrassing if Cas ever found out.  In response to Dean’s shrug, Sam just make a face before getting back into the conversation with Cas.  Dean settled back against his pillows and tried to relax.  He eventually felt his eyes drooping as he listened to Cas talking Sam’s ear off.

***

Dean woke up with a start, confused about what had brought him out of his rest.  He looked around before focusing on his brother standing next to his bed.  Sam smiled down at him.

“Hey Dean.”  Sam had begun talking quieter than before.  After glancing over in Cas’ direction, Dean understood why.  He was passed out in his bed, soft snores coming from his open mouth.  Dean gave his brother a questioning look.

“The nurse brought him some painkillers.  They actually gave you some too, don’t you remember?”  Sam asked, looking over at sleeping Cas.

“I don’t think I would’ve accepted taking painkillers.  I’m fine, Sammy, I don’t need that stuff.”  Dean sniffed in his direction, dead set against the idea of taking the medicines.

“It’s a little late for that Dean, they already gave you some.  I thought you were awake, but I guess not.  You even said goodbye to me when I left,”  Sam stated.  He seemed to be mocking Dean for being so out of it.

“Why did you let them stick that poison in my veins?  You know how I feel about those things.”  Dean gave Sam a suspicious look, no longer trusting.  Sam rolled his eyes.

“Well it doesn’t matter now, does it?  What matters is what’s going on between you and Cas,” Sam insisted.  Dean groaned.

“This again?  Seriously Sam.  There’s nothing going on.  No matter how much I may want there to be,”  he finished with a mutter.  His eyes widened.  Dean had not meant to say that aloud.  Maybe Sam hadn’t heard him?

No such luck.  Sam was now grinning big at him.  

“I knew it!  I knew there was something I didn’t know about!”  he whispered excitedly.  For some reason this seemed to be the most important piece of information he had gotten all day.  Dean cringed inwardly.  This just meant that it was going to be even harder to put Sam off the subject.  “So you like him then?”  Sam continued.

“I don’t know...I guess?”  Dean admitted.  “I like being around him.  He makes me laugh.  I feel like he feels the same way.  And we have such a strong bond already, you know?  It’s almost...profound,”  Dean mused.   Sam laughed out loud at Dean’s words.  He got a glare in return.

“Wow Dean, profound?  You must have it bad.  He’s already broadened your vocabulary,”  Sam joked.  Dean folded his arms sullenly across his chest.

“If you’re just going to make fun of me I’m not going to tell you anything anymore,”  Dean retorted.  Sam didn’t seem put off by the threat.

“If you like him so much, why don’t you just ask for his number?  Then you can talk to him whenever you want,”  Sam suggested.

“That is a horrible idea and you know it.”

“I could always talk to him about it if you wanted…”  Sam trailed off suggestively.  

“I swear to God Sammy if you mention a word of this to him I’m disowning you.  We will no longer be related.”  Dean got extremely worked up at the thought of Sam telling Cas about this discussion.

“Fine, I won’t talk to him.  Calm down.”  Sam paused and glanced down at his watch. “I have to go back to work.  My dinner break is almost over,”  Sam observed.  He stood and headed towards the door.  “I’ll come back and visit when I get the chance.  The nurse said that she had to talk to me soon anyways.  Have fun with your new friend.  Don’t forget to keep it P-G.”  Sam winked and ducked out the door as Dean flipped him off.  Once Dean was sure Sam was gone, he glanced over at Cas and froze.

Did Cas just blink?

No, that’s ridiculous.  Dean would’ve noticed if he had woken up.  Right?  Hopefully.  Dean sighed and tried to close his eyes.  All he seemed to be able to do since getting into this hospital was sleep.  Oh well.  It  wasn’t the worst way to pass the time.

If Dean had still had his eyes open, he would’ve seen Cas slowly turning to look in his direction and smiling.

***

Cas was having a mini panic attack at the moment.  He had been lying completely motionless on the bed, waiting until Dean had fallen asleep.  Even after Dean’s breathing had deepened in sleep, he still waited about five minutes before moving, just to make sure.  Cas let out a gigantic breath.  

That was an interesting conversation he had just eavesdropped on.  He had woken out of his drugged sleep slowly, and that gave him enough time to realize what was going on, and figure out enough to want to stay still and keep listening.

He had started listening in when Sam had asked Dean whether he liked Cas.  His mouth had gone dry waiting for Dean’s response.  When he had finally responded, Cas had wanted to jump out of bed and praise the heavens.  He had been crushing on his roommate ever since they had first brought him in the first day.  It meant a lot that Dean felt the same thing that Cas did.  And it meant better chances for the relationship to progress.  Cas would just have to proceed with caution, and try not to reveal that he knew how Dean felt.  This was going to be hard.  It had been hard just listening to Sam and Dean talk.

Since Cas was so attracted to Dean, everything he did was adorable.  That was why it had been so hard to contain his laughter when Sam had made fun of Dean for his vocabulary.  He couldn’t help wanting to smile at the way Dean had sounded when he responded.  It was the cutest thing Cas had ever heard.  He had had to shift around in bed to cover up his laugh.

Yeah.  This was going to be a challenge.  But it was totally worth it.

***

When Dean woke again for what seemed like the hundredth time, it was again to the sound of voices.  What was different was that he didn’t recognize one of them.

“Listen little brother, I know you look up to me and all, but this jumping off the roof stuff has got to stop.  Mom is pretty pissed at me for daring you to jump off the roof, which is absolutely ridiculous.  It’s not my fault you were stupid enough to take the dare, is it?”  There was a sound of protest at the speaker’s words.  Dean turned his head to see who this new visitor was.

A guy that looked a few years older than Cas was seated in the chair next to Cas’ bed.  His dark blonde hair was halfway to his shoulders.  The smirk that twisted his lips seemed to sit there permanently.  His elbows were propped on his knees, and his hands were clasped in front of him.  From the way he was speaking, and his resemblance to Cas, Dean had to guess that this was Gabriel.

As if Dean had said his name aloud, Gabriel looked up to Dean’s side of the room.  When he saw Dean looking at him, a huge grin split his face.

“And Sleeping Beauty awakes!  I gotta admit, I was worried for awhile there.  I mean, Cas said you slept a lot, but damn dude.  I’ve been here for like 45 minutes, and I’m assuming you were asleep long before then.”  As he had been talking, Cas’ brother had gotten up and moved across the room to the side of Dean’s bed.  From the look Cas had on his face, he obviously didn’t want Gabriel talking to Dean, which only made him more curious.  “I’m Gabriel by the way.  Gabe,”  Gabriel added, sticking out his hand.

“Nice to meet you Gabe,”  Dean returned the handshake.  From the way Cas had talked about him,  this guy seemed too nice to be the same brother that had been talked about last night.  

“I’m sure Cas has shared about how great his big brother is, and I just want to confirm that everything he said is true.  Unless it’s bad.  Then he’s just trying to be better than me,”  Gabe continued, as if he had read Dean’s mind.  Gabe sent Cas a sickly sweet smile in return to the glare he was getting.  Dean was surprised that the poisonous look Cas was sending his brother. wasn’t affecting him physically.

“Okay Gabe, you introduced yourself.  Don’t you have something to do back at home?”  Cas said pointedly.  He seemed to be pleading with his eyes, but Gabe was determined to ignore him.  At least that’s what it looked like to Dean.

“Nah, I’m sure I can stay a little while longer.  You don’t mind, right Deano?”  Gabe laughed.  “Besides, I’ve got plenty of stories to share with you.”  Cas looked like he would rather be anywhere else in that moment.  Gabe and Dean both looked over each other appraisingly.  Gabe seemed like a nice guy, like a normal brother.  Dean didn’t understand what Cas was getting so upset about.  That is, until Gabe started talking again.

“You know, Cas mentioned that his roomie was cute, but I honestly wasn’t expecting this.  Cassie is going to end up jumping off another roof just to come back and stay awhile longer.”  Dean was delighted to see how red Cas’ face got at his brother’s words.  Even though he would hate it if Sam ever did this to him, it was entertaining to watch it happen to other people.  Especially Cas.

Wait.  Did Gabe say Cas thought he was cute?  Cas had mentioned to his brother that he thought Dean was attractive?  Dean was about to go crazy analyzing the conversation when Gabe launched into a story.

“Something like that has actually happened before.  There was this one time that Cas thought a lifeguard was cute at this water park we went to,”  Gabe started off.

“Gabe, please no,”  Cas pleaded.  Obviously he knew where this story was going.

“Shut up, Cas, let me tell my story.  Anyways, so he actually pretended to drown to get this lifeguard’s attention, right?  Well it turns out the the girl lifeguard was closer, and she made this big deal out of faking drowning and went over all these safety rules.  We almost got kicked out.  It was absolutely hilarious,”  Gabe finished with a small laugh.  By the end of the story Dean was in tears, and even Cas was laughing through his protesting.

Gabe stayed for about an hour more, and there wasn’t a dull moment the entire time.  He kept everyone laughing, and Dean decided that he really liked Gabe.  Even though he teased Cas constantly, he still seemed to be a pretty nice guy.  He was even polite to the nurses when they came in to check up on both Cas and Dean.  Dean and Cas weren’t able to talk again until after Gabriel had left.

“So that’s my brother,”  Cas began once Gabe had left the room.

“I like him.  He seems cool,”  Dean responded with a laugh.  “Did you really pretend to drown?”  Cas groaned.

“I knew I would regret letting him tell that story.”

“Don’t worry.  I think it’s hysterical.” Dean gave a small laugh, remembering the story.  Cas smiled gratefully.  They both relaxed back against their pillows.  It was almost nine, and the hospital was starting to close up for the night.  Just as Dean noticed this, the overhead lights flicked off.  Cas sighed contentedly.

“Goodnight, Dean.”  he murmured through the darkness.  

“Goodnight, Cas.  Sweet dreams.”  And if the lights had been on, they would have been able to see each other smiling to themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it!
> 
> Comment if you have any feedback/suggestions. 
> 
> The next addition should be out sometime in the next week, just like last time. 
> 
> Thanks again! :D


	3. Good Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Gabriel decide to take Dean and Cas' relationship into their own hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the third chapter!
> 
> I'm honestly pretty happy with how it ended up. It's a bit choppy with the timeline, so I apologize about that. I decided I wanted to add a scene with Gabe and Sam after I already published chapter two. I hope it doesn't end up being too confusing :)
> 
> Thanks so much for being patient with me, and for reading! It means a lot :D

It was about three in the afternoon when Dean’s condition went downhill.  Both Cas and Dean had been up for a few hours talking.  Currently they were discussing what they missed most about home.

“I miss burgers.  Hospital food is the worst, and my dad makes these awesome burgers that have like blue cheese in the middle or something, I don’t even know.  They’re heaven.”  Dean was explaining in great detail the best burgers he had ever had, and Castiel was listening attentively.  “You know what else, when I put-”  

 _Beep.  Beep.  Beep_.  Dean paused for a second, then continued.  Most of his machinery beeped at some point or another, so the foreign noise wasn’t too worrying.

 _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_.  A nurse burst through the doorway looking frazzled.  

“Something’s wrong,”  she gasped, moving towards Dean’s bed.  Why was she moving towards Dean’s bed?

“What do you mean something’s wrong?  I feel fine.  Better than fine.”  Dean tried to go for a convincing smile, but the nurse wasn’t leaving.  

“You have a 103 degree fever, I’d say there’s definitely something that needs fixing.”  All Dean could do was blink.

“103?  Are you sure?  Because I think I would’ve noticed feeling sicker.”  The nurse glared at him.

“Have you had any painkillers recently?”  

“I got some earlier for my leg, but is that really enough to block a fever that high?”  The nurse shrugged.  

“It’s possible.  Either way, we have to get you checked out.  Come with me,”  she continued, beginning to pull on the bed.  Up until this point Cas had been watching quietly, but now spoke up.

“Wait, is he going to be okay?”  His voice sounded anxious.

“We don’t even know the extent of the problem yet.  Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon.”  The nurse had a soothing tone when she spoke, but Cas didn’t relax.  Dean was touched by Cas’s concern, even if he was a little troubled himself.

“See you soon buddy.  Make sure you don’t leave before I get back.”  Dean grinned, and Cas smiled back weakly.  The nurse pulled him all the way out the door and set a fast pace down the hallway.  Soon they arrived in another medical room, where she stopped abruptly.  Dean looked around.

It seemed to just be a normal exam room, only big enough to roll beds into.  There was an extra bed against the wall, and an abundance of shiny silver surfaces with glimmering tools on them.  Dean hoped to God the nurse wasn’t planning on using any of those tools, especially the nasty looking needle on the table closest to him.  He attempted once again to get free of the nurse.

“Seriously, I feel okay.  I’m sure it’s just nothing.”  Dean attempted sitting up, just to show how fine he was.

“Please lie back down.  This will be much easier if you cooperate.”  The nurse picked up the one thing Dean was dreading.

The needle.

“Look, I really don’t need to be checked. How about we just call it a day, yeah?  I think it’s a pretty good plan.” Dean’s voice squeaked at the end as she continued approaching with the needle.  It looked even worse up close.  “I’m going home tomorrow, I’ll just sleep a lot.”

“Oh, you won’t be going home tomorrow.  If it’s an infection, we’re going to have to keep you a few two days, at least.”  Dean’s stomach dropped.  Another two days?  That seemed like a lifetime away.  

“No, I have to get home.  I’ve missed a bunch of work already, I can’t miss anymore.”

“It’s too bad you aren’t like your roommate,”  she jerked her head in the direction of Dean’s room, “seeing as how he’s getting out almost a week early.  Now he will be leaving tomorrow.”  Dean’s mind went blank.  Even if he had been staying the extra two days, it would’ve been okay with Cas.  But since he’s leaving…

“I’m going to put you to sleep now, okay?  Your blood pressure and heartbeat are up quite a bit.  This will help relax you.”  Dean tried to scoot away from the edge of the bed.  No luck.  The nurse kept coming.

“Keep that thing away from me.  I’m telling you, I’m fine!”  He felt a sharp prick in his arm, before everything went dark.

***

**Yesterday, about 8:30 P.M.**

Gabriel turned the corner out of Cas’ room and ran into what felt like a brick wall.  He had just finished talking to Cas and his roommate and was heading out for the night.

“Are you okay?  I can’t believe I just did that!  I’m so sorry.”  Gabe looked up at his assaulter…and up...and up.  The guy he had bumped into was at least six feet tall, maybe more.  So, in other words, he was a giant.

“It’s no problem dude, I should’ve been watching where I was going.”  Gabe continued craning his head back to watch the giant look at what room he had come out of.

“Are you a friend of Cas’?” he questioned.

“He’s my brother.”  The giant gave him a surprised look.  

“Are you really?  I didn’t know Cas even had siblings.”  The giant still seemed to be in shock.

“Yeah, he’s the middle child.  I’m Gabriel. Gabe,”  Gabe responded, sticking out his hand.  He had never thought he and Cas looked that different, but everyone they met seemed surprised to learn that fact.

“I’m Sam, Dean’s brother.”  Sam’s hand dwarfed Gabriel’s, covering it completely.  Sam pumped his hand once before releasing the grip he had on Gabe’s hand.  It was unsettling, feeling so small next so someone younger than him.  

“You’ve been in there with those two, right?”  Gabe asked.  Sam nodded.  Gabriel grinned in response.  “God, you can almost feel the sexual tension between them, right?”  Sam laughed out loud.

“I noticed the same thing.  The first time I went in it took ten minutes for Dean to even look at me.  Later, when I asked him about it, he refused to do anything about it.  He’s content to just sit there apparently.”  Sam rolled his eyes.  Gabe smiled again.  For what he had been planning, this conversation was going great.

“I was going to talk to Cas about it too, but I chose to tell stories instead.  More fun for me,”  Gabe said, wiggling his eyebrows..

“You know, Dean would be more likely to listen to you instead of me,”  Sam observed.   _Perfect._

“Same with Cas.  He’ll just think I’m messing with him.” Gabe could hear his voice getting more excited as he talked.  “You know what this means?”  Sam gave him a confused look.  From what Gabe had gathered so far, Sam was in a constant state of confusion unless you explained things.  It’s a good thing Gabe was a good explainer.  “It means we’re getting them together!  Operation Get Our Brothers Laid is now a go!”  Gabe finished at almost a shout, earning a glare from a nearby nurse.  Sam laughed at Gabe’s excitability.

“I’m in,”  Sam declared.  “I don’t see how else those two are going to get their act together, unless we help them along a bit.”

“My thoughts exactly,”  Gabe said with relish.  He was really starting to like Sam.  They began walking in the direction of the doors, making plans as they went.  “You talk to Cassie the morning he leaves, and I’ll get to Dean that afternoon.”

“I’m feeling pretty good about our chances, actually.”

“That’s because this is a great plan.  Now, when you’re trying to convince him, make sure you…”

***

Dean jerked awake, knowing instinctively that he was back in his hospital room.  He was getting really tired of sleeping.  He never thought he would ever say that sentence.  He groaned and sat up in bed, twisting to crack his back.  He looked over at his roommate to see him sitting on the edge of his own bed, completely unhooked from everything.

“What are you doing?”   Dean questioned, already knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer. Cas yanked his head up guiltily.  

“I’m leaving tomorrow morning.  They’re preparing me to leave.”  Dean watched as Cas’s face dropped.  It gave him a little twinge of satisfaction that Cas was upset about this too.

“So you really are leaving,” Dean continued after a pause.

“Yeah.”

“You know what you’re going to have to do right?”  Cas squinted at him.  “You’re going to have to keep jumping off roofs until I get released, too.”  Cas let out a bark of surprised laughter and turned his gaze back to the floor.

“You’re hilarious,”  Cas responded quietly.  “I’m going to miss you.”  He seemed to get even quieter at his last words.

“I’ll miss you too buddy.”  Dean was not enjoying where this conversation was going, so he hastily changed the subject.

“So what happened to me?”

“There was a piece of metal in your leg the doctors missed.  It caused an infection.  They had to do surgery, and you even got a new cast.”  Dean flipped the blankets back to see a cast that was pretty much identical to his old one.  He made a face at it.  “You were the talk of the hospital for a couple hours.  Mistakes don’t happen often, so this was kind of a big deal.”

“But I’m better now, right?”  As Cas had been talking, Dean had felt a shiver of worry work its way down his spine.  He felt fine, but he had also felt fine when he had the infection in his leg.

“Yeah, they triple checked this time.  You should be fine.”  Dean exhaled in relief.  In those few seconds his mind had run wild with everything that could possibly go wrong with his leg.  His panic now disappeared as fast as it had arrived.

A nurse walked in just then with a rolling tray of hospital food.  Dean estimated it was now about six thirty, which was the time dinner usually occurred.  The conversation stopped as both men absorbed themselves in the task of eating.  If Dean had to make a guess, he would say they both wanted to avoid the topic of Cas’ departure.  After a couple minutes though, they were able to make senseless chatter for the rest of the night.

***

Sunlight filtered in through the window, covering Dean in a blanket of warm golden radiance.  It almost seemed as if the sun was mocking Cas for his terrible situation.  He continued watching his roommate sleep peacefully while the clock struck seven.  He slumped a little lower on the bed before struggling to stand.  He was just preparing himself to leave when Sam appeared in the doorway.

“Cas.  You’re up early.”  Sam highlighted his point with a direct look in his brother’s direction.  Cas flushed hotly.

“I was...I have a thing…”  His stammering was doing nothing to help prove his innocence.

“Don’t.  You’re trying to leave before he wakes up.”

“Why would I-”  At the sound of Dean shifting in the bed, Cas felt a look of terror transform his features.  He knew then that Sam had made up his mind.  

“Cas, can I walk you out?”  Sam jerked his head towards the door and started off in that direction.  With one last longing look in Dean’s direction, Cas followed with a sigh.  He shuffled into the hallway and found Sam against the wall.  Cas didn’t really feel like sitting still, so he started down the hallway.  Sam easily caught up.

“So how long have you been checked out?”  Sam began.  Cas panicked.  How was he going to hide that from Sam?  Hide the fact that he had been sitting on that hospital bed for two hours, trying to work up the courage to leave?  “Cas, calm down.  It was just a guess, but obviously it was a good one.”  Cas heard alarm tinge Sam’s voice.  All he did in response was sigh in defeat.

“Since six fifteen.  They needed the room, and since I’m all better…” Cas let Sam figure out the rest.  He shrugged.  “I was deciding on whether or not I wanted to say goodbye when you came in,”  he admitted.

“Are you planning on seeing him again?”  Sam continued with his questioning.  Cas looked at the floor.  “I know he has feelings for you,  and I’m pretty sure you know it too.”  Sam continued through Cas’s protests.  “I saw you awake the other day.  Relax.  I’m not upset.  I was hoping you would find out actually.”  Sam finished with a smile.

“You were?  Why?”  The pair had now arrived at the front doors of the hospital.  Sam gave him a wary look.

“Don’t you...like him back?”  Sam spoke hesitantly now.  Cas scrubbed his hands across his face.

“Of course I do.  But it doesn’t matter.  He doesn’t like me as much as I like him.  The relationship probably wouldn’t go anywhere anyway.”  Cas was surprised at himself for sharing so much of what he felt with Sam.  He had only known the guy, what, two days?  And now he was spilling his secrets?  He must’ve been having a tougher time that he thought.

“...and you’ll never know if you don’t try.”  Cas shook his head.  He had completely missed the first part of what Sam had been saying.

“I don’t know...I don’t even know how to find him.”  Cas didn’t want to give himself too much hope, just in case it didn’t work out.

“I’ve been planning something, actually.  I needed to make sure you wanted to see him again first though, obviously.”  

“What’s the plan?”  More hope flourished despite his best attempts.  

“You give me your number, and I’ll call you the day he gets out.  You can meet him at the door.”  Cas smiled, finally allowing his hope to run wild.  Now that he was going to see Dean again, maybe something could come of it?  

Cas looked around hurriedly for a piece of paper and pen.  He finally borrowed one from the front desk and brought it back to where Sam was standing.  They exchanged numbers and hurried goodbyes, before Sam rushed out the front door.  Cas followed at a slower pace.

He pushed open the doors and let the early morning brilliance wash over him.  He noticed Gabe waving at him from the car across the parking lot, and set off in that direction.  

He looked up at the sky and grinned to himself.  He realized that the sun wasn’t mocking him. Not at all.  It was celebrating his good fortune.

***

Dean glared out the window at the bright day outside.  He had his arms folded across his chest, and had been in this position since he woke up two hours ago.  Not even the news that he would be going home the next day could bring him out of the mood he was in.  And it was all because of Cas.

Dean had woken up that morning to find Cas gone, with not even a note to say goodbye.  It wasn’t like he had been expecting a party, but even a handshake would’ve been better than nothing.

“Mr. Winchester?  There’s someone here to see you.”  He turned his head to look at the nurse hovering in the doorway.  

That was weird.  Sam had told him earlier that he wouldn’t be able to make a visit today.  Who else would take the time to come see him?  His question was answered about ten seconds later.

“Hey there.  Miss me?”  Dean recognized the slightly mocking voice before even looking at who was in the doorway.

Gabriel.

“What are you doing here?  Didn’t you know Cas checked out this morning?”  Dean asked sullenly.  Gabe scoffed.

“Oh no, I’m not here to see him.  I see way too much of him at home already.  I’m here for you.”  Gabe finished with a smile and motioned at Dean.

“What?  Why?”  Dean had no idea why Cas’s brother would’ve come to see him, unless Cas had sent him.  But what would be the point in that?

“You are obviously moping, as I knew you would be.”  Gabe clasped his hands behind his back and ambled towards the window.  “Upset because Cassie didn’t say goodbye?”  He said this with a half-smile thrown over his shoulder.  Dean spluttered.

“No, I just-”

“Don’t lie.  We both know you like him, and I have reason to believe he likes you too.”  Gabe was now leaning back against the window facing Dean’s bed, hands braced on the edge.  Dean blinked in shock.

“Cas?  Liking _me_?  You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Not at all, Deano.  He left without saying goodbye because it hurt to leave.”  Gabe pressed his hands to his chest dramatically, then dropped them and rolled his eyes.  “And that is why you’re going to give him a second chance.  You have to see him again.”  He said all of this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  Suddenly, Dean realized what was happening.

“Cas put you up to this to mess with me, didn’t he?”  A sharp stab of disappointment shot through him.

“No, I swear.  I’m being serious.  Listen, I have a secret.”  He leaned forwards and glanced around quickly.  Dean leaned forward without thinking.  “Cassie has been moping too.  It’s pretty annoying.  He just shuffles around.  Which is the main reason I want you to talk to him.  So I don’t have to deal with his miserable ass anymore.”  Seeing the look on Dean’s face, Gabe threw his hands in the air.  “Fine.  You know what, I don’t care.”  He pushed off the wall and walked towards the door.  “Keep pouting if you want.  I’ll leave you to it.”  He was almost out the door when Dean made his decision.

“Wait.”  If Dean had been able to see Gabriel’s face, he would’ve seen a triumphant grin light up his face.  “You swear this isn’t a trick?”  Gabe spun back around and strode towards the bed.  

“On my life.  Cross my heart, and all that.”  Dean sighed.

“Fine.  How do I see him again?”  Gabe settled into the chair next to Dean’s bed.

“Cas told me about your ice cream deal or whatever.  When you get out of the hospital, call him up,”  Gabe paused to press a piece of paper into Dean’s palm. “And take him for ice cream.  Dairy Queen is his absolute favorite, by the way.  Banana split blizzard is what he always orders.”  Dean made a face.  He had never been able to stand having fruit in his desserts.

“I know.  I don’t know how he stands the stuff,”  Gabe noted, seeing Dean’s facial expression.  Seemingly done with explaining the plan, Gabriel turned towards the door.  “Oh, and another thing,”  he remembered, facing Dean once again.  “Cas is the best person of us four siblings, so if you hurt him I promise you, you will end up right back in that hospital bed.”  Dean felt the blood drain from his face.  Gabe grinned.  “Have fun with him, though.  Remember, I haven’t sent prostitutes since he told me about you.  Work with that.”  He gave a three fingered wave and vanished out the door.

Dean honestly had no idea whether Gabriel had been kidding about the prostitute thing or not.  Either way, that encounter was enough Gabe to last him a lifetime.  Even so, Dean smiled to himself.  

He was going to be seeing Cas again.  Maybe even tomorrow.  Never in the whole time he had been at the hospital had he wanted to leave more.

***

It was finally the day.  The day Dean got to leave.  Everything had checked out the night before, and it was finally time to get out of this hospital.  The day had dawned bright and clear, to match Dean’s current mood.

He was sitting up in bed and being unhooked from the last bits of machinery he was attached to.  He leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes. Dean had been awake since early that morning worrying.  He had decided after talking to Gabriel that he would call Cas as soon as he got out and plan a date.  If Cas agreed to it.  Dean still hadn’t decided whether he trusted Gabe about these things or not.  Either way, he was worried about how it would be when they weren’t in the hospital.  He wanted to make a good impression.  Dean had even called Sam early that morning to ask him to bring clothes.

_“Sammy, could you drop by later with some nicer clothes?”  Sam’s answering response sounded smug._

_“Who are you dressing up for?  Is it for a date?”  Dean could hear Sam’s smile over the phone._

_“No, I just want to not feel gross for the first time in four days.”  Dean was getting more irritated the longer this conversation went on._

_“Whatever you say,”  Sam sing-songed.  Dean sighed in defeat._

_“So will you bring them?”  he pleaded._

_“Yeah yeah, I’ll get there at one.”_

It was now 12:50, and Dean was panicking for the umpteenth time that morning.  There were so many things that could go wrong.  Just then, Sam appeared in the doorway.

“Sammy!  Did you bring the clothes?”  Sam threw a duffel bag at him.

“They’re in there.”  He responded, sinking into a chair next to Dean’s bed.  “Hurry and change, I have to check you out.  Then I made reservations for lunch.”  Something about Sam’s voice was off, but Dean didn’t think too much about it.  He swung himself out of bed and shuffled towards the door of the bathroom.  

When he had first arrived at the hospital, he hadn’t noticed the tiny doorway tucked into the corner of the room.  Now it felt glaringly obvious.

Dean opened the bag on the way to the bathroom to look at the clothes Sam had chosen.  What he saw made him feel sick.  Sam had packed black basketball shorts and a white V-neck t-shirt into his bag, along with his left flip-flop.  This was going to give the absolute wrong impression he wanted to send.

“Sam,”  Dean shouted.  Maybe there was still time for Sam to go back and get different clothes.  Sam strode to the bathroom, stopping in the doorway.

“What’s wrong?”  Sam didn’t seem to understand the problem with what he had brought.

“Sam, these are going to make me look like a slob!  I told you nice clothes, and these are not nice clothes!”  Dean finished.  Hopelessness had settled over him.  

“Basketball shorts are the only thing that would fit over your cast.  You’re just going to have to deal with it.”  Dean almost felt like crying.  He didn’t have a legitimate reason for why this upset him so much, but he was pretty sure it was because of Cas.

Gabe had unnerved him when he said Cas liked Dean back.  That statement held a lot of pressure that Dean wasn’t sure he could handle.  He wanted to show Cas how much he meant to Dean, but these clothes weren’t going to send that message.  Cas was going to think he wasn’t important to Dean, or something worse.  Dean was starting to feel a weird pain in his chest.  He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to feel like that.

“Dean. Calm down.  Cas really likes you, he isn’t going to care what you’re wearing.  Not even a little bit.”  Sam’s voice broke through Dean’s thoughts.

“For the last time, this isn’t for-”  Sam cut him off.

“Nevermind that.  Get changed.  Like I said, I made reservations.  We’re going to be late.”  Sam turned around and went back to collapse in the same chair as before.  

Dean grumbled as he got the clothes out of the bag, and then got to work on changing.  To his surprise, he managed it with almost no problems.  There was a point where he got temporarily stuck in the shorts, but was able to get out.  With a little help from Sam.  Once his clothes were in order, Dean examined himself in the mirror.

His face was red from the effort of getting the shorts on, and not in a good way.  His hair was unwashed, and he hadn’t shaved in a couple days.  Dean ran his hands over his face before calling for Sam.

“Hey Sam, do you have time to-”  Once again, Sam knew what he was thinking.  He tossed a plastic bag at Dean from the chair.  The bag contained a razor and shaving cream.  Dean smiled happily.  Maybe this meetup would go okay after all.

“You’re the best Sammy,”  Dean called, getting to work on his face.  Sam was busy on his phone.  Talking to whom, Dean had no idea.

“I knew you were going to bitch about it, so I planned ahead,”  Sam replied distractedly.  He didn’t seem at all into the conversation at the moment, so Dean dropped it.  “Seriously though, we have to get a move on.  I have a surprise before lunch.”  Once he finished talking, Sam pushed himself out of the chair and headed towards the door.  “I’ll be up front checking you out.  The nurse will bring you when you’re done,”  he finished, and disappeared.

“What?  Sam, come back!  I don’t like surprises!”  Dean called, even though he knew it was too late.  He groaned in defeat, and then got to work.

Ten minutes later,  Dean was being pushed out the front door in a wheelchair.  

“I don’t need a wheelchair, just give me my crutches!”  Dean growled.  He felt helpless in the moving chair, and didn’t particularly enjoy the feeling.

“Dean we’re almost out, just calm down,”  Sam responded.  Nothing Dean said seemed to bring Sam’s mood down.  He suspected it was something more than the fact that he had been released that day.  He squinted suspiciously in his brother’s direction until the nurse stopped suddenly.  Dean hadn’t realized they had reached the parking lot.  She helped Dean to his feet and then handed him the crutches.

“We’ll call for an appointment to get that cast off, alrighty?”  She grinned big at them.  This nurse was a lot friendlier than the one Dean had had in his room.  She clapped her hands together once, then headed back inside with the chair.  Dean leaned forward onto the crutches, testing the hold.  They were actually pretty comfortable, in Dean’s opinion at least.  He started towards the Impala, where he could see it parked.  He felt Sam fall into step beside him.

“So where did you make these reservations at?  Because I’ve been craving Mexican since the…”  Dean trailed off, then came to a jerky stop.  His heart beat faster and his mouth grew dry. There, framed in the sunlight perfectly, was Cas holding a bunch of flowers.

He was wearing a blue striped dress shirt and jeans.  His dark hair was wet, as if he had recently showered, and reflected light.  Cas was shifting his weight from foot to foot.  When he heard Dean trail off, he took a step forward.

“Dean,”  Cas said warmly.  His voice also sounded almost...nervous?  But why would Cas be nervous?

“Cas,”  Dean paused, still not believing his eyes.  “What are you doing here?”  Cas gave him an alarmed look, and suddenly got flustered.  

“I...uh...Sam said we were going out to lunch?  I can go home if you guys had something planned…”  Cas looked pretty upset now that he thought he was intruding.  Dean whirled on Sam, or tried to at least.  Once he got himself facing his brother, Dean was able to find out what was going on.  Sam was smiling big, and Dean groaned inwardly.  This is what Sam had been so excited about the entire day.  He had planned this.

“Surprise!  It’s lunch for you guys!  To celebrate getting out of the hospital!”  Sam said happily.  “Get going!”  He turned to leave, and then turned back as an afterthought.  “Oh, and you guys can actually go wherever.  There aren’t any actual reservations.”  With that, Sam spun and headed towards the bus stop down the road.  Dean faced Cas once again.

“So, do you want to get lunch, then?”  Dean asked hesitantly.  Cas grinned big when Dean asked.

“Of course.  I’m starving,”  he admitted  with a laugh.  Dean hobbled around to the passenger side of the Impala, with a little help from Cas.  He settled in and watched Cas circle around the car.  

After Cas had buckled himself in as well, they pulled out of the hospital parking lot.  Dean watched Cas shamelessly.  He was amazed at how attractive Cas still was to him.  None of his looks had become any less pleasing over the days they had gotten to know each other.  Cas glanced over at Dean, feeling his look on the side of his head.

“Where do you want to go?”  he asked, placing his eyes back on the road.  They were approaching the intersection that would lead to a multitude of different restaurants.  Even so, Dean had already planned where they were going to eat.

“I say Dairy Queen,”  he announced.  “I’ve heard their banana split blizzard is pretty good.”  Cas laughed out loud, leaning over to nudge Dean with his shoulder.  Dean nudged back.  Cas’s laugh was infectious, and he couldn’t keep the joy from swelling up in his chest.  Not for the last time, Dean thought about how lucky he had been when he crashed that car all those days ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. 
> 
> I decided I'm going to end the fic there. Thanks so much to everyone who read, commented, and liked it. I had so much fun with this :)
> 
> I appreciate all the feedback ^-^

**Author's Note:**

> I know the ending was slightly rough. I've never done fics with chapters before, but I'm trying :)
> 
> The next installment should be out sometime next week. I'll try my hardest!


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